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Monday, June 15, 2009

A Lick and a Promise

Our country furniture store in Gordonsville was open seven days a week. My husband and I worked every weekend and holiday. Now that we are retired, even though we have no schedule, we have reversed our activities and tend to relax more on weekends and save the chores for the weekdays. That means Monday is clean up day. When I was a child and we did routine housekeeping between the larger cleanings, my mother always said we would give the house “A Lick and a Promise.” So today I gave my house a lick and a promise.

Don’t things get cluttered quickly? Piles of magazines, newspapers and junk mail were first on my list. And while I was at it I culled my catalog pile. Everything that was discarded went into the recycling bag.

When I want the house to look “just cleaned” without doing a big clean up, I scrub the kitchen and bathroom sinks and faucets. When they sparkle everything seems clean. Add a few flowers beside the kitchen sink and you’re halfway there. I am currently using chemical household cleaners but when they're used up, I plan to switch to a cleaner that is better for the environment such as EccaPure Multi-Purpose Green Household Cleaner.

Another biggie is to quickly go over the floors. We live in the woods and that makes for lots of tracking in. I use this really handy Cordless Swivel Sweeper and I love it! It is incredibly maneuverable and what a relief to have no cord. Very good for quick pickups. I even bought two - one for upstairs and one for downstairs!

Last chore - water the house plants and the flowerpots on the porch using a Watering Can that is cute enough to be part of the decor. I’m finished just in time to write my blog! Tell me - what are your secrets for a quick clean up?

4 comments:

C. Stuart
said...

Scented candles, a quick sweep, and a sparkling front glass door in addition to making sure the bathroom surfaces are clean. Less is more. Anything you can stick in a closet, counter or drawer makes it look neater. I'm not above closing doors on messy rooms or sheers over dirty windows either. Biggest secret, feed them well and they won't notice much!!

I can tell that your house is cleaner and much more homey than mine. A quick pick-up of clutter is my idea of 'a lick and a promise.' Yes! I grew up with that phrase, also, but that's not surprising since you and I are from the same home town. :-)

My favorite 'green' and inexpensive cleaner (when I clean...LOL) is vinegar. Mix it with water and it will clean anything...windows, stainless steel, floors...just ANYTHING. It is also a great solvent, for those stubborn stains (think cooked on food in pots you let cook too long). Just pour in enough to cover the gunk, let it set overnight and the next morning, all you have to do is rinse the vinegar out along with the mess.